The worst effect of global warming would be the melting of large icecaps and glaciers, which will increase the water-level in all oceans and seas. Moreover, when the earth’s crust will be relieved from the massive weight of ice it will act as a spring and will elevate, this can cause earthquakes at a scale never been documented before. This phenomenon is called the “Post-Glacial Rebound” of the Earth’s crust.
Scientists have now devised a plan with which they will be able to correct the phenomenon. A team of scientists are scurrying around Greenland this summer to install 24 continuous GPS stations into bedrock around the coast. To keep them running for long, scientists have attached huge battery packs which get fuel from the sun.
These sensitive stations will be able to monitor even the slightest changes in elevation in the Earth’s crust and will beam out the readings. This data will also allow other sensors, which continuously monitor the elevation changes, glacial outflow rates, and overall mass of the ice sheets to become more efficient. As a part of the project scientists will travel to Antarctica to install 16 similar stations later this year.
These units will also help GRACE – Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment – A NASA satellite system to monitor climatic changes. This system takes regular ice-sheet mass readings but it cannot tell which particular areas are losing mass.
Via: Technology Review
